004
GREECE
• CRETE and MYCENAE
2,000 BC to 1,100 BC
– Ancient civilizations on Aegean Sea
• Crete 2,000 BC to 1,400 BC
– Protected by the sea
– Luxurious, relaxed way of life
– Art consisted of freely shaped forms = feeling of movement
» Built palaces
• Mycenae
– Greek mainland
– Society of warriors
» Built citadels
» Principle residents were megarons
PALACE OF KNOSSOS
SOUTH PROPYLAEUM
The south propylaeum is the main entrance to the palace. Here it is behind the wall of the corridor
of the procession. Stones and wood are the basic building materials. Columns are made from tree
trunks which are shaped, plastered, and placed upside down.
Palace of King Minos, Knossos c.
1600 B.C.
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NORTH PROPYLAEUM
Goods and material brought up to the palace from the harbor
enter through a gate at this guard post. A path under the
colonnade leads to the central portions of the palace. Barely
visible on the wall behind the columns is a fresco of a bull. The
bull figures prominantly in the decoration within the complex. The
fertility symbolism is clear.
Palace of King Minos, Knossos c.
1550
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ROOM IN THE WEST WING
A room in the west wing built over a crypt. It is a good example of
the Minoan mixture of stone and timber construction. The use a of
a column for support clearly opens up the space. The large high
windows are common features in the palace. They open the
space further, ventilate and give light to the room, and keep the
occupant in closer touch with the world of nature outside.
Palace of King Minos, Knossos c.
1550 B.C.
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THREE-STORY RESIDENCE
South of the palace is this private house with rooms on three
floors. The house probably belongs to a nobleman or an official.
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Palace of King Minos, Knossos c.
1500 B.C.
THRONE ROOM
Palace of
King Minos,
Knossos
Late 15th
century
B.C.
These columns and
bench, opposite the
throne, divide the room
from a small stairway
leading to a room
below. This is a good
example of a column
with a black shaft and
red capital. The capital
is decorated with white
and black bands.
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STAIRWELL
The ground level of the
stairwell which adjoins
the royal apartments.
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Palace of
King Minos,
Knossos c,
1600 BC
DOLPHIN FRIEZE
The queen's apartment or
megaron consisted of a fairly
spacious suite of rooms. This
is the famous dolphin frieze in
the main room. Decorative
rosette panels surround the
door openings and run across
the walls. The importance of
both the sea and of animals as
decorative images is clearly
illustrated here.
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BATHROOM IN THE QUEEN'S APARTMENT
The queen's
bathroom and
bathtub, adjacent
to the room above.
There also was a
room with a toilet
that flushed. Note
the elegant
symbolic waves as
a decorative frieze.
Palace
of King
Minos,
Knossos
c. 1500
B.C.
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FEMALE IDOL
A terra-cotta female
idol covered with
breasts. Later you will
note this same form of
decoration on a
libation jug.
From
Hagia
Triada c.
1500 B.C.
Museum of
Herakleion,
Crete
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RHYTON BULL
A rhyton (libation vase)
in the shape of a
massive bull's head. It
is made of steatite, with
eyes of rock crystal and horns of gilded
wood. The natural
quality of the bull is
outstanding.
From the
Little
Palace,
Knossos
1550-1500
B.C.
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Beneath the Palace of Knossos
BENEATH THE PALACE AT KNOSSOS
GREEK MEGARON
MEGARON PLAN
MEGARON EXTERIOR
TREASURY OF ATREUS
DROMOS
LION’S GATE
1250 BC
DETAIL OF LION’S GATE
DOMED INTERIOR
INTERIOR
• GREECE
– Greek Ideal - mind and body as one
– Architecture is the mainstream of European tradition
– Worth of the individual
• Who were the ancient Greeks???????????
– Dorians
» Invaded from the north 1100 BC
– Ionians
» Invaded from the east
» Settled in the Greek Islands
• GREEK ANTHROPOMORPHISM = MAN + FORM
– Greek Government
• Limited democracy - city-states
– Greek Religion
• Worshipped natural phenomenon
GREEK ANTHROPOMORPHISM
• Man + Form
– Architecture reflects maker in human scale
• Temples
– Prototype was megaron, Mycenean Chieftain’s House
– Considered a house
– Classified by number of columns ie hexastyle, peripteral
• Orders
– Doric, Ionic, Corinthian
– Determines shape, disposition and proportions of entire set
– All were brightly painted
DORIC TEMPLES
• Evolved speciman
– Converged toward an ideal
– 6th Century changed from timber to stone
• HERA I (BASILICA) 530 B.C.
– Atypical
• Nine columns, center divided by column
• HERA II (POSEIDEN) 460 B.C.
– Typical
• Hexastyle façade
• Two double-tiered colonnades inside
PAESTUM
MEDITERANIAN SEA
GREEK TEMPLES IN PAESTUM ITALY
BASILICA (HERA I) TEMPLE
TEMPLE OF HERA I FLOOR PLAN
HERA II TEMPLE
BASILICA FOREGROUND
HERA BACKGROUND
http://trashformer.free.fr/spip/article.php3?id_article=6
PARTHENON
• Architects Ictinus and Callicrates 447-438 B.C.
• Design Characteristics
–
–
–
–
U-shaped double-tiered columns
Proportion 4:9
Paradoxical effects
Optical and angular refinements
• Variations from the perpendicular and subtle deviations
– Refinements show an astounding degree of craftsmanship
PARTHENON FLOOR PLAN
PARTHENON
PARTHENON
PARTHENON
Optical and angular refinements
DORIC ORDER
IONIC ORDER
GOLDEN SECTION FOUND IN NATURE